Prayer book

Nuremberg, around 1490/93
Parchment
The richly illustrated codex is a prime example of the numerous prayer books produced Nurnberg in the late Middle Ages, among them a huge number of copies, like this one, were produced in Michael Wolgemut’s workshop. Michael Wolgemut was the mentor of Albrecht Dürer.
Fol. 285r: Saint Michael, the weigher of souls. After death St Michael weighs the good deeds of the deceased against his bad deeds in the Last Judgement. The miniature shows the archangel with the scales. In the one of the weighing dishes, there is a naked soul, in the other the model of a church, probably endowed by the deceased. The devils however are pulling the scale downward, in order to win the soul for hell.